Spring forming and tempering machine.



G. H. BEAUMONT, J. F. BEANS & J. E. LEHMAN.

- SPRING FORMING AND TEMPERING MACHINE.

APPLICATION I'ILED 32111.30, 1913.

Patented May 13, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

w w mtwm 32 A Z i fi m 1 3% 0A., I 6 aka w WITNESSES: aw

G. H. BEAUMONT, J. P. BEANS & J. E. LEHMAN.

SPRING FORMING AND TEMPERING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1913.

Patented May 13, 1913.

4 SHEETS-"SHEET 2.

WITNESSES INVENTORS WV M .'eaya /[,K6z1a2/40/12 r/fl/f/l lljcafl 6' anz 9/ Z Jay [7. VJ 6/1/2212 71/ I? RNEYS G. H. BEAUMONT, J. P. BEANS & J. E. LEHMAN.

SPRING FORMING AND TBMPERING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.30, 1913.

Patented May 13, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

G. H. BEAUMONT, J. F. BEANS & J. E. LEHMAN.

SPRING FORMING AND TEMPERING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.30, 1913.

Patented May 13, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES: KW a. r-zuz UNITED STATES PATENT orator.

GEORGE E. BEAUMONT, JOHN F. BEANS, AND JAY E. LEHMAN, OF CANTON, OHIO; SAID LEHMAN ASSIGNOR TO SAID BEAUMONT AND BEANS.

SPRING FORMING AND TEMPERING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 13,1913.

Applicationfiled January so, 1913. Serial No. 745,087.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, Gnonen H. BEAU- MONT, JOHN F. BEANS, and JAY E. LEI-IMAN, citizens of the United States, residing at Canton, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring Forming and Tempering Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in machines for automatically forming and tempering springs. In the manufacture of springs, and especially what are termed fiat leaf springs, each leaf is made from a fiat strip or bar of steel bent exactly to a predetermined curvature and then hardened or tempered to retain that curvature. In the building of such springs a number of such leaves are joined to produce the complete spring and it is essential to first-class results that the various leaves be bent exactly and uniformly and that the tempering thereof be done in such a way that all parts or leaves will be uniformly hardened.

The objects of the present invention are to generally improve machines of the character mentioned, to provide means whereby springs may be automatically formed and tempered, to obviate the necessity of reheating the springs after forming and before tempering, to avoid the possibility of the springs being bent out of exact shape after having been formed and before the tempering is completed and to provide for the continuous and rapid manufacture of springs of a uniformly high standard of quality and with a reduced amount of labor and cost of production. These objects, together with other objects readily apparent to those skilled in the art, may be attained by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, although the invention may be embodied in other forms, the construction illustrated being chosen by way of example.

In the drawings Figure 1 1s a top plan .viejv of a spring forming and tempering machine embodyingour invention, parts struction. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View of the machine taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. at is a fragmentary perspective view of the broken gear for raising and lowering the heads. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a portion of the upper jaw and one of the spring-engaging presser-heads' and its adjustable connections disconnected from said jaw. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the spring receiving blocks of the lower jaw with its adjustable supportingmembers. Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view through one of the spring forming heads, showing the same in its upper position with the jaws open. Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the head in lowcred position with the aws closed.

Throughout the several views similar reference numerals indicate similar parts.

In a general and preliminary manner it may be stated that the embodiment of our invention disclosed in the drawings comprises a circular water-cooled oil tank provided with a center post to-which are connected and about which revolve a plurality of spring forming heads rovided with upper and lower jaws, sai heads being raised out of and lowered into the oil in the tank as they rotate about said center post, the jaws of each head opening to discharge formed and tempered springs and to receive new bars for formin and tempering while said head is out of t e oil.

More specifically describing the invention disclosed in the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the horizontal bottom and 2 and 3 the vertical walls of an annular oil tank containing oil 4 for the purpose of tempering the springs. The bottom 1 extends beyond said walls 2 and 3 and is connected to the vertical walls 5 and 6 spaced from the walls and 3 respectively and producing inner and outer annular water chambers 7 and 8 respectively filled with water 9 for the urpose of maintaining the oil 4 at a desired temperature. On the inner side of the wall .3 is'arranged a base plate 10 rovided with an integral, upwardly extendlng post holding collar 11 within which is arranged the vertically disposed center post 12.

Rotatably mounted upon the center post 12 by means of the bearing portion 13 is the outwardly extending pentagonal housing 14 formed integrally with said portion 13 and extending, in spaced relation to the'post 12, to a point somewhat below the top of the collar 11. It should here be pointed out that the housing 14 is not necessarily pentagonal, as it may have more or less sides in accordance with the number of heads with which the machine is provided. To each of the five fiat outer sides of the housing 14 is fixedly attached a head-connecting arm 15 the outer end of which is provided with an integral Vertical attaching plate 16. For convenience of reference we have generally indicated the five movable heads of the ma-' chine, by the letters A, B, C, D and E, re-.

spectively.

Each head comprises a relatively stationary base 17 and a relatively movable base 18 slidably connected to the base 17 by a broad dove-tailed connection permitting the base 18 to be raised and lowered with reference to the base 17. X To each movable base are vertically slidably connected the upper and lower jaws indicated generally by the numerals 19 and 20 respectively,the manner of connection between said jaws and said base 18 being interfitting dove-tail grooves and portions, as illustrated in the drawings.

Each base 17 is connected to its proper attaching plate 16 and rotates about the center post 12 as the housing 14 and arms 15 are actuated, and the base 18- and jaws 19 and 20 constituting the head rotate therewith as hereinafter more fully appears.

Upon the bottom 1 is arranged a single annular rail 21 and the stationary bases 17 of the various heads are provided with wheels 22 adapted to run upon said rail and support the weight not only of the heads, but of the arms 15 and housing 14.

The movable base 18 is provided at its upper end with the integral outwardly extending bracket portion 23 provided with a vertically disposed screw threaded aperture in which is arranged the screw threaded portion 24 of the lower jaw adjusting rod 25, which extends through an aperture 26 in the upper jaw 19 and through a similar aperture 27 in the lower jaw 20 and is provided at its lower end with the drawing head 28 supporting the weight of the lower jaw 20. The extreme upper end of the rod 25 is provided with a hand wheel 29 by which the rod may be rotated for the purpose of raising or lowering the entire lower jaw with reference to the base 18 for the purpose hereinafter more fully disclosed.

It should be understood that the base 17 never rises or falls during the operation of the machine with reference to the oil 4, being constantly in the position illustrated in Fig.

the surface of the oil 4 and the lower jaw is principally above s'aid surface, to the lower position illustrated in- Fig. 8, in which the lower jaw is entirely submerged in the oil 4 and the upper jaw is also partly submerged. I

For. the purpose of raising and lowering the base 17 each head is provided with a pitman 30 pivotally connected at 31 to the upper end of the base 18 and having its lower end pivotally connected to the crank 32, which is rotated by the shaft 33 to which it is fixedly connected, said shaft being journaled in the head-connecting arm 15, as most clearly illustrated in Fig. 3'.

Encircling the center post 12 and fixedly mounted on the top of the collar 11 is the stationary broken gear 34 provided at 35 and at 36 with beveled teeth and provided intermediate the teeth at 35 and the teeth at 36 with the long integraL'curved holding ledge 37 and the shorter similar holding ledge 38. Below the teeth at 35 and 36 the holding ledge is downwardly recessed as at 35 and 36 for the purpose hereinafter disclosed.

The inner end of each shaft 33 is provided with a holding plate 39 having two opposite straight edges 40 and 41 and with the rounded ends 42 and 43. In addition to the plate 39 each shaft is provided with a terminal beveled gear 44 adapted when brought into proper position, to engage the teeth at 35 and 36. The number of teeth at 35 and 36 should be in such proportion to the teeth of the various gearwheels 44 that as each gear wheel is brought into engagement with the teeth at 35 it will be turned over a one-half revolution and then when brought into engagement with the teeth at 36 it will be turned over the other half, thus making one complete revolution of the shaft 33 only each time the housing 14 makes one complete revolution about the center post 12. Intermediate the teeth at 35 and 36 the straight edges 40 and 41 of theholding plates 39 bear upon and slide along the ledges 37 and 38 preventing the shafts 33 from rotating except when the gear 44 engages with the'teeth at 35 or 36. When the' said ends during the necessary rotation of the plate 39 with the shaft 33 and gear 44.

From an inspection of Fig. 1 'it will be noted that the outer water chamber 8 is narrowed from the point 45 to the point 46, the purpose of such construction being to make the working heads, and especially the jaws, more accessible between those points.

as 3. The base 18, however, moves from the It is the purpose of the construction dis elosed'in the drawings to have at all times two of the heads, fol-instance the heads A and E, above the oil for the purpose of the removal of finished springs and the insertion of newly heated bars, while the remainingthree heads, for instance B, C and D, are in the lower position, with the jaws thereof submerged in the oil. Accordingly, the gear 34 should be so arranged upon the collar 11 as to place the teeth at 35 in position to rotate any one of the gears 44 brought into. contact therewith when the corresponding head of the machine reaches the point 45, the crank 32 being properly disposed with relation to the corresponding gear 44 so that the one-half revolution of the gear 44 produced by the teeth 35 will raise the pitman 30 into its extreme upward position. When said extreme upward position has been attained the straight edge 40 of the plate 39 will be brought into slidin engagement with the holding ledge 38 and the shaft 33 will thus be held against further rotation and the corresponding head of the machine will be held in its upward position until the teeth at 36 are reached,'by the rotation of the housing 14 with the various heads and head-connecting arms, when the same gear 44 will be further rotated, thus rotating the shaft 33 a one-' half revolution to bring the crank 32 to its lowermost position thus lowering the head, submerging the jaws in the oil 4 and bringing the edge 40 into. sliding engagement wit-h the ledge 37 to hold the shaft 33 against further rotation until the teeth at 35 are again reached by the further rotation of the housing 14 with the heads and the arms 15. j

The housing 14 and connecting arms and heads may be rotated by power in any convenient manner. One of the most practical methods of producing such rotationis illustrated in the drawings in which an annular beveled gear 47 is fixedly connected to the top of the housing 14 and a cap 48 pro vided with a-supporting arm 49 and integral box 50 is fixedly connected to the upper end of the center post 12, ball bearings 51 being provided between the lower edge of said cap and the gear 47. In the box 50 is journaled a shaft 52 provided at one end with a beveled car 53 meshing with the gear 47 on the ousing 14, and provided at the outer end with the fixed and idle pulleys 54 and 55 respectively to which a belt may be applied in the usual manner.

For the purpose of raising and lowering the jaw 19 with relation to the jaw 20 as the base 18 is moved up and down by the pitman 30, each jaw 19 is provided at each end thereof with a fixed pin 56 which is engaged by the elongated eye 57 of the lever 58. Said lever is pivotally connected at 59 to the base 18 and the other end of the lever 58 is provided with a pin 60 which extends into the vertically disposed slot 61 in the side of the stationary base 17. The

slot 61, and the pin 56 is at the outer extremity of the eye 57. During the movement of the base 18 from the upper position to the lower position the pin 60 moves, at first, backwardly into the off-set portion 62 of the slot'61, permitting the pivotal point 59 to pass the center, or descend below the upper limit of the slot 61, and then as said point 59 continues to descend the pin 60 moves frontwardly out of the off-set portion 62 into the main portion of the slot 61 and begins to move downwardly as rapidly as is permitted by the downward movement of the base 18. It will be understood that during the pivotal movement of the lever 58 the pin 56 will necessarily move back'and forth within the eye 57, as will be readily understood, and when the pin 60 has reached the lower limit of the slot 61 and the base 18 continues to descend the eye 57 will force downward upon the pin 56 holding the same firmly in position until the base 18 is again raised. From an inspection of the drawings those skilled in the art will understand that as the base 18 begins its downward movement the upper jaw 19 will be caused to descend more rapidly than the base 18, so as to bring the upper jaw into contact with the heated bar on the lower jaw before the surface of the oil is reached. It will also be apparent that when the base 18 moves from its lowermost position, as

shown in Fig. 8, upwardly, the jaw 19 will not be raised from the work until the upper limit of the slot (31 has been reached by the pin 60,when the upper jaw will quickly move upwardly to release the finished spring.

Attention is now directed to the construc tion of the jaws and their parts. It will be noted that the upper jaw is provided at its top portion with an integral forwardly projecting ledge 63 which is provided at intervals from one end of the jaw to the other with verticall disposed apertures 64 through which extem bolts 65 having their heads bearing upon the upper surface of the ledge (53. Below the ledge (53 is the presser-head.

frame 66 provided with the upper horizontal flange 67, the integral back 68, and the integral lower horizontal flange 69. The back 68 extends below the flange (59 and the in position with relation to the ledge 63. It

will be understood, however, that when the upper jaw descends upon the work and the clamping action takes place as between theupper and lower jaws, the springs 70 will be compressed, as clearly illustrated on head B in Fig. 2 and also in Fig. 8, the bolts 65 being slidably moved upwardly through the apertures 64 to permit relative movement as between the ledge 63 and the frame 66.

The flange 69 is provided with a series of apertures71,and the back 68 beneath the flange 69 is provided with a corresponding series of inclined screw threaded apertures 72, each aperture 72 being slightly off-set from its corresponding aperture 71 in the flange 69 above.

Each presser-head comprises the cylindrical portion 73, the integral flange 74, and the fixedly connected screw threaded stem 75. Above the flange 74 are one or more plates 76, the stem 75 passing through an aperture in said plates, and above said plates is arranged the presser-head adjusting block 77 provided with a lower horizontal face and an upper face declined from front to rear to correspond with the declined under surface of the flange 69. In the block 77 is the vertical I aperture 7 8\ elongated from front to rear so as to permit front to rear movement of the block 77 with relation to the stem 75,

and an aperture 79 extends from front to.

rear through the block 77, ofl-set with relation to the aperture 78 and adapted to reof resser-heads connected to the presserh eadframe is such that the various cylindrial portions 73 are closely adjacent each other, or substantially contiguous as will be understood from an inspection of the head A in Fig. 2.

Referring to the lower jaw 20 it. will be noted that the same is provided with a forwardly projecting ledge 82 at its lower edge, the upper face of said ledge being in-' clined from rear to front, as clearly illusforward end of each screw 85 is provided with screw threads and screw threaded apertures in the plate 83 receive said screw threaded portions. The extreme forward end of each of said screws is provided with some means, as a slot, for the application of a tool, as a screw driver, to rotate the screw and thus adjust the position of the block 84 upon the inclined surface of the .ledge 82 upon which it rests. Above each block. 84 is one or more plates 88 extending from the plate 83 to the vertical face of the jaw 20 and on top of said plates is arranged a spring receivingblock 89 which has a flat horizontal under'surface and an 11 wardly rounded or cylindric upper sur ace, as illustrated in Fig. 6. It will be apparent that by adjustment of the various blocks 84 on the lowerjaw, the corresponding blocks 89 may be raised or lowered as may be desired.

Along the-upper edge of the plate 83 are a plurality of directing blocks 90, each pro vided with a vertical attaching portion 91 having vertically disposed slots 92 therein to receive cap screws 93 tapped into the plate 83 for the purpose of adjustably con-- necting said attaching portions to said plate and a rearwardly projecting upper portion 94 extending across the top of the plate 83 and provided with a chamfered or lnclined edge 95 extending backwardly and downwardly to a point in vertical alinement with the front edge of the blocks 89. The rear portion of the jaw 20 is likewise provided with the beveled/edge 96 extending forwardly and downwardly to a point in line with the rearedges of the blocks 89.

It willbe understood from the above de scription that the resser-heads and spring receiving blocks on the upper and lower jaws respectively may be so arranged and adjusted that when they are brought toward each other to clamp a bar of steel between them, as illustrated at 97 in Fig. 8, said bar will be pressed and formed into the desired curved shape. By variation and adjustment of presser-heads and spring receiving blocks many differentcurvatures and forms of springs may be produced upon any one given machine. 7

If it should be desired to vary thepressure upon the work the hand wheel 29 may be rotated to produce such variation as may be desired, and other conveniences of the device will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

The advantage of the beveled edges 95 and 96 is that said edges guide the heated bar of steel into true position upon the spring receiving blocks 89, thus obviating the necessity of truing the work to remove edge-wise twists or curvatures. The blocks 89 should be of exactly the width which it is desired the finished spring shall be and the work will thus be forced into true alinement in the case of every bar put into the machine.

A machine of the character described having been provided it will be understood that, for instance in the disclosure in Fig. 1, the jaws of the head E will be open and above the oil 4: for the removal of a finished spring While the head A will have its jaws open and above the oil for the reception of a heated bar of steel. As the head A moves farther to the right the upper jaw will be brought rapidly down to engage the work between the presser-heads and spring receiving blocks, forming and clamping the heated bar in the exact form desired and immediately plunging the jaws with said heated bar below the surface of the oil 4, there toremain until the point 45 is reached, when said jaws will, rise from the oil and open'for the removal of the finished spring. It is believed that from this simple description the cycle and mode of operation of the device will be thoroughly understood by those skilled in the art.

We claim':

. 1. In a device of the character described, a tempering bath, a plurality of metal forming means, means for moving said metal forming means in a substantially horizontal orbit through said bath, means for vertically raising said metal forming means out of said bath at a predetermined point in said orbit and for vertically lowering said metal forming means into said bath beyond said point, said metal forming means, when 'out of said bath, adapted to form and clamp heated metal and then to carry the same in formed, clamped condition throughout said orbit. a

2. In a device of the character described, a plurality of heads, a tank common to and including all of said heads, a tempering liquid in said tank, said heads connected together and adapted to revolve horizontally in said tank about a common center, each of said heads provided with metal forming members adapted to receive heated metal and to form the same between them, means for actuating said metal forming members to form said metal, means for rotating said heads about said common center, and means for vertically moving said metal forming members to submerge the same in and raise the same out of said tempering liquid as said headsrevolve horizontally about said common center.

- 3. In a device of the character described, an annular tank, tempering liquid within said tank, a center post arranged concentrically with reference to said tank, a housing mounted on said center post and rotatable thereabout, a plurality of radially extending arms connected to said housing and a head connected to each of said arms and rotatable with said arms and housing about said center post, said heads moving in an annular pathway within said tank, each head provided with metal forming means adapted toreceive and form heated metal and said metal forming means adapted to descend beneath and rise above the surface of said tempering liquid, and means for raising and lowering said metal forming means during the rotation of said heads, arms and housing about said center post.

4. In a device of the character described a tank, tempering liquid within said tank, a plurality of arms connected together and extending radially from a common center, a head connected to each of said arms, said arms and heads horizontally rotatable about said center, said heads moving in an annular pathway within said tank, each head provided with met-a1 forming means adapted to receive and form heated metal and said forming means adapted to descend beneath and arise above the surface of said tempering liquid, and means for raising and lowering said metal forming means during the rotation of said heads and arms about said common center.

5. In a device of the character described a tank, tempering liquid within said tank, a first base adapted for horizontalmovement within said tank, a second base connected to said first base and adaptedfor vertical movement with relation thereto, a first jaw connected to said second base and adapted to move vertically therewith and a second jaw connected to said base and adapted for relative movement therewith and adapted to move toward and away from said first jaw, means for moving said first base with said second base and jaws horizontally through said liquid, means for raising and lowering said second base with reference to said first base, and means for moving said second jaw with relation to said first jaw when said second base is vert1- cally moved with relation to said first base.

6. In a device of the character described a tank, tempering liquid within said tank, a base, means for moving said base horizontally within said tank, two jaws connected to said base, and one of said jaws relatively stationary with reference to said base and the other jaw relatively movable with reference to said base and with referenceto the relatively ststionary jaw, means have hereunto subscribed; our names in the for vertxcally movmg sald base toralse and presence of two wltnesses;

lewer the same with reference to said liquid GEORGE E. BEAUMONT. during-the horizontal movement of said JOHN BEANS. 5 base and means for ectuatingsaid rela- JAY E. LEHMAN.

tively movable jaw when said base is verti- Witnesses:

(Pally mbved. WILLIAM H. MILLER,

In test'iimmy that We claim khe above; we WM, J. Pnmo. 

